If you're an absolute beginner, take a moment to step back from the problem.
Have you read a book or done a
tutorial? There's a huge amount of resources out there, many of which are going to help you a lot more than
us answering the beginners' questions for you. If you're following a tutorial, book or course and
you don't understand something, then that is the correct time to ask a beginners'
question. Of course, we won't turn you away if you do have a beginners' question — by all
means,
come to us if you do have a problem.
Have you read the official documentation for the module or technology you're working with? The
official Python 3 docs are a fantastic and valuable
resource, so if you're using a bundled module, your first port of call should be there. If you're
using a third-party library, often they will have some official documentation uploaded somewhere
—
try having a Google around, or take a look at PyPi in case they've
linked it from there.
If you can't find the documentation or you find it lacking, the next place to look is the source
code.
Grab a decent IDE (we recommend PyCharm Community)
and a coffee, download a copy of the project and open it up, and get to browsing!
If you're still confused, try searching the Internet for people that have already had the same
problem. Often, you won't be the only person to have encountered the issue you're dealing with - more often
than not, you'll find a GitHub ticket or a StackOverflow question along with a fix or answer to your
question already posted.
If none of the above helps you or you're lost, scared and alone, feel free to continue on to the
Discord server. You can use the search feature (the at the top right) to check
whether someone else has asked your question recently, or just feel free to pick one of the help channels
and ask your question.
A Good Question
Thank you for helping us help you help us all.
When you're ready to ask a question, there's a few things you should have to hand before forming
a query.
-
A code example that illustrates your problem
- If possible, make this a minimal example rather than an entire application
- Details on how you attempted to solve the problem on your own
- Full version information — for example, "Python 3.6.4 with
discord.py 1.0.0a"
Your question should be informative, but to the point. More importantly, how you phrase your
question
and how you address those that may help you is crucial. Courtesy never hurts, and please type
using correctly-spelled and grammatical language as far as you possibly can.
When you're inspecting a problem, don't be quick to assume that you've found a bug, or that your
approach is correct. While it helps to detail what exactly you're trying to do, you should also
be able to give us the bigger picture - describe the goal, not just the step. Describe the problem's
symptoms in chronological order - not your guesses as to their cause.